Recent year have seen substantial commercialization of an automatic pinsetter of the sort generally illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,810,617 issued May 14, 1974 to Schmid and Goems; U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,378 issued May 7, 1974 to Schmid and Goems; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,966,206 issued Jun. 29, 1976 to Schmid, the details of which are herein incorporated by reference.
More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,673 issued Mar. 21, 1989 to Schmid has disclosed an improved rapid moving and distribution apparatus for bowling pins. This particular apparatus is intended for use in pinsetters of the sort found in the previously identified patents and is intended to be interposed between the usual pin elevator which elevates fallen pins from the so called "pit" end of a bowling lane to the pin spotting deck which is utilized to respot pins. While the same is ideally suited for its intended purpose, there is a drawback associated therewith. In particular, in pinsetters of the sort mentioned, pins are received from the pin elevator and must be oriented and fed down to distribution paths, bottom end first. Since pins are coming from a single source (the pin elevator) but must be directed to two different locations, it is necessary to provide means whereby some of the pins are directed to one point and others are pointed to another point. Preferably, in order to prevent an absence of pins at one point from occurring, it is desirable that every other pin be directed to one of the two locations and the remainder to the other of the two locations.
In the apparatus disclosed in previously identified U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,673, pins from the pin elevator are oriented in the desired direction and then placed on the upper end of a diagonally extending chute which terminates at the two delivery points at its bottom. A distribution rocker is located intermediate the ends of the chute and serves to direct pins first into one distribution point and then into the other, in alternating fashion.
As mention, this system works well but does have the disadvantage of increasing the volume or bulk of the pin setting apparatus which it is used. Specifically, the requirement that the chute be diagonally placed with an upper end and a lower end increases the height of the apparatus in the vicinity of the chute and the pin elevator. Secondly, the nature of the distribution rocker disclosed requires that there be some substantial spacing in the horizontal direction between the pinsetter pin deck and the pin elevator.
These two factors not only require consideration in terms of placing the apparatus in a bowling establishment but result in added cost in manufacturing the pinsetter. Specifically, because of the spacial requirements, the pin elevator must be made of longer length than is need be and the usual pit conveyor (which conveys fallen pins to the bottom of the pin elevator) must likewise be made longer than needed.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the above problems.